Mapúa Education Group plans to produce 200,000 AI-fluent learners by 2029 as demand grows for workers who can use artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly across different industries.
The initiative is part of iPeople Inc.’s plan to expand AI education across its schools as businesses increasingly look for workers with AI skills.
Mapúa Education Group, which includes Mapúa University, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao, and Mapúa Malayan Digital College, is the proponent of the initiative. The program will cover undergraduate and graduate students, short-course participants, and professionals seeking to upgrade their skills.
This is also a response to studies by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), which found that young Filipino workers need stronger digital and AI skills to remain competitive as workplaces adopt AI.
“The 2029 target reflects Mapúa’s commitment to driving meaningful scale,” said Dr. Marloun Sejera, head of Mapúa University’s Office for Artificial Intelligence Curriculum Integration. “This timeframe gives us the structured runway needed for comprehensive curriculum redesign, faculty development, microcredentialing, and workforce-aligned industry partnerships.”
The program will teach students more than how to use AI tools. It also covers checking AI-generated content for errors and bias, protecting data privacy, and using human judgment when applying AI to real-world work. Training ranges from basic AI literacy to advanced and industry-specific applications.
To support the rollout, Mapúa has partnered with OpenAI, enterprise computational intelligence platform Altair, and Arizona State University. Over the next three years, the school group will update courses in engineering, computing, business, health, and design, while adding short courses, professional certificates, and AI teaching resources for faculty.
“By equipping learners with real-world AI capabilities alongside strong human oversight, we are supplying Philippine industries with the future-ready talent needed to compete globally,” Sejera said.